Sermonstudio

BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Micah 6:1--8 (C, E, L)
God brings his chosen people to a cosmic court where even the mountains and hills bear witness. The charge: the people had forgotten the Lord's mighty works of redemption and the wealth of past blessings. In verse three he puts them on the witness stand to make their case but they apparently have nothing to say. Therefore, God presents his case, detailing his acts of mercy and deliverance as he brought them out of Egypt and into the promised land. Though guilt is established, no verdict is declared or judgment rendered. There is an abrupt change in verse six to the topic of how a person can be accepted by God. Is it the way of sacrifice, as commonly thought? No, the favor of the Almighty cannot be secured through even a multitude of sacrificial gifts accompanied by the proper rituals. The prescription that follows for how one can stand before the judgment seat of God is one of the most exalted in the Old Testament: ''What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?'' (v. 8).

Lesson 1: Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12--13 (RC)
God's judgment will pass and the remnant left in Israel will be characterized as humble and righteous.

Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 1:18--31 (C); 1 Corinthians 1:26--31 (RC, L); 1 Corinthians 1:(18--25) 26--31 (E)
Last week's epistle lesson dealt with the problem of divisions in the church. In today's lesson, Paul digs to the root of the matter, spiritual pride. The Greeks elevated reason and they were at the point of thinking that they could approach God through a correct understanding of spiritual matters. Paul knocks human reason and wisdom off its vaunted pedestal, claiming that God saves not through human wisdom but through the foolishness of preaching. Lest their heads swell with pride, he reminds the Corinthians that very few of them came from educated and noble worldly ranks but rather surfaced from the dregs of human society through the grace of God. No Christian, from whatever societal rank, has the right to boast except in the gospel.

Gospel: Matthew 5:1--12 (C, E, L); Matthew 5:1--12a (RC)
The Beatitudes were also featured as the gospel lesson on All Saints' Sunday with the emphasis being the blessings that accrue to those who love the Lord. Here the emphasis is on

the defining characteristics of those who belong to God - their humble spirit, meekness, gentleness, and so forth. These blessed ones are those who are in tune with their own weakness and realize that they have nothing to boast of and so they place their trust in God. The Beatitudes, a part of a larger collection of our Lord's teachings called the Sermon On The Mount (Matthew 5--7), are not laws of God or a prescription for righteousness, they are a portrait of God's saints. The gospel lesson fulfills the theme of humility and lowliness found in the first two lessons.

Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 15 (C) - Who are those who will remain in God's dwelling? Those who walk blamelessly before the Lord.
Psalm 37:1--8 (E); Psalm 37: 1--11 (L) - The arrogant, proud people will be replaced by the meek, who will inherit the land.

Prayer Of The Day
God of grace, imprint on us the spirit of your Son, who humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross. Pry us loose from a false sense of pride concerning human distinctions so that, through the power of Christ, we may do justice, love kindness and walk humbly before you, our loving God and Savior. In Jesus' name. Amen.


THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Micah 6:1--8
People's Court. This passage is framed in a sixth century B.C. courtroom setting. The people of God are on the stand and the Almighty is the prosecuting attorney. The charges of infidelity and rebellion are brought forward but the defendants remain mute. They have no defense. But did you notice? No judgment is rendered and no sentence is pronounced as is the case in numerous other Old Testament passages. It appears that the ending of the passage has been lost or misplaced and that the verses subsequent to verse five don't fit here because they don't maintain the judicial image of the Lord. Some scholars think that verses 6--8 are editorial additions from a later period, composed by a different author. Could it not also be possible that Micah had a sort of Damascus road experience where he received a radical new concept of God? Could it not be that the Spirit of God enabled Micah to transcend the legalistic image of the Almighty with a more personal concept? Or, if not a sudden transformation, perhaps the prophet experienced a gradual but steady growth in his theology so that he came to see that loving and loyal relationships were what God required, not merely obeying the rules.
With what shall I come before the Lord? (v. 6). Ever since the fall of humankind into sin, people have clung to the notion that God cannot be approached empty handed; God must be placated with offerings and sacrifices. Micah came to see that all of us must stand naked before God, without pockets. It is not what we have that makes us acceptable to God, it is who we are. Those qualities that Micah says will enable us to stand before God - justice, kindness and humility - stem from who we are and not what we possess.

Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 1:18--31
The scandal of the cross. I once read a thought--provoking book titled The Scandal of Lent. Paul says that the cross is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews (v. 23). The Greek word translated 'stumbling block'' could just as well be rendered scandal. We wear crosses around our necks as objects of jewelry which belies it original offensiveness. It was an odious blasphemy according to Jewish thinking that the Messiah should meet such an ignominious end. The gospel, as we have often presented it, is pabulum; it has been stripped of its scandalous and offensive character in our attempt to be all things to all people. Not that the church

is free of scandal. There is sometimes the scarlet scandal of immorality. Pastors and other church leaders sometimes cause scandal through a wrongful use of their sexuality or an inappropriate exercise of power. A lack of justice, kindness and humility on the part of rank and file church members also produces scandal. This is the wrong kind of scandal. The gospel of a God who humbled himself, suffered and died on the cross should cause the scandal, not the practitioners of the gospel.
Consider your own call (v. 26). Paul reminds the Corinthians of their humble roots: ''Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.'' Nevertheless, God called them to be his own and to make his name known. In the modern church it seems that only pastors and missionaries are thought of as having a call. This is unfortunate because we are all called to be Christ's ministers in our baptism. Yet, even in the call of the pastor, I really wonder about how much the typical congregation opens itself up to the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than rely on the commonly accepted wisdom of this world. In my experience and observation, humility, kindness and gentleness are not at the top of the list of qualifications for calling a pastor. Rather the standards of this world are paramount: charisma, good looks, powerful persona, charming personality, and so forth. As a matter of fact, I have observed some humble servants of God being given the boot because they didn't measure up to standards. But whose standards? Christ's or the world's? Let's be honest, if the Lord has formed an apostolic search committee, none of the twelve would have even gotten an interview. You and I may dismiss ourselves as being less qualified to do a certain task than someone else, but the Lord sees different qualities than people do.

Gospel: Matthew 5:1--12
The Be Attitudes. These verses describe those who find their being in the eternal God. It's what we are that really counts, not what we possess or have done. All of these characteristics are a result of our being in Christ. The Beatitudes are rather difficult to preach because they go off in different directions. In a sense, the other Beatitudes flow from the first: ''Blessed are the poor in spirit.'' To be poor in spirit does not mean that one is lacking in spirit, rather it is to be bereft of a proud or haughty spirit. Poverty of spirit is roughly equivalent to the word humility. A humble person is one who knows he does not soar in the heavens but is of the earth, like rich humus soil. In other words, such a person realizes that he is dependent on God, the ground of all being, if his or her life is to be fruitful.
Robert Schuller has written a book called The Be Happy Attitudes, based on his interpretation of these verses. I don't mean to criticize this distinguished colleague but I have a problem with this approach. Jesus is not describing those who are necessarily happy. In fact, they have every reason to be unhappy. They are probably not just poor in spirit, but really poor. They are bereft. They are persecuted. Not exactly a felicitous state of being. Happiness is based in circumstances; the root of the word ''happy'' is hap, which means chance. When chance goes our way we may be happy but not necessarily blessed. To be blessed is a gift which God bestows on his own, a state of inward joy and peace, independent of what is or is not going on in our lives.


PREACHING APPROACHES WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

Lesson 1: Micah 6:1--8
Sermon Title: Walking Small
Sermon Angle: You are probably aware of the two Walking Tall movies, the true story of sheriff Buford Pusser, who almost singlehandedly fought the mob in his county. Like Teddy Roosevelt, he believed in carrying a big stick which he used to bash the bad guys. All of the lessons today talk about walking small, that is, walking humble. Micah says it exquisitely, ''What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?''

Outline:
1. We look up to those who walk tall and proud (like Pusser)
2. God accepts those who walk small

- those who do justice

- those who love kindness

- those who walk humble with God

Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 1:18--31
Sermon Title: The Scandal Of The Gospel
Sermon Angle: Paul gloried in the scandal of the gospel; it was utter foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews. He realized the crucified Christ was both the wisdom of God and the power of God. In our society we try to package the gospel Madison Avenue style or reduce the truth of the gospel to the lowest common denominator. The way of God is strength in weakness, glory in shame, wisdom in foolishness.
Outline:
1. Understand the scandal of the gospel

- the cross shows the weakness of God

- the cross shows the power of God

- the cross shows the immanence of God

- the cross shows the wisdom of God
2. Proclaim the scandal of Christ crucified

Sermon Title: Look What God Chose!
Sermon Angle: According to Paul, God chose that which is weak to confound the strong, God chose what was foolish to shame the wise and God chose what is lowly and despised to bring to nothing the things that are considered great (vv. 27--29). It doesn't seem as if God is very discriminating. That way, it is manifestly clear that God chose us out of grace, not merit.

Gospel: Matthew 5:1--12
Sermon Title: The Being In Christ Attitudes
Sermon Angle: The Beatitudes present certain spiritual inclinations or attitudes of being that put one in touch with God. Since Jesus gave them, we might call them the being--in--Christ attitudes. These attitudes are not prescriptive (do this and you'll be this way) but descriptive (those who have the spirit of Christ are this way). When you ask someone what they want out of life, they often respond that they desire happiness. Jesus tells us that it is better to be blessed than to be merely happy.
Outline:
1. Would you rather be happy or blessed? (Discuss the difference.)
2. Who are the truly blessed ones? Those who have discovered how to be

- humble (poor in spirit)

- meek (strength under God's control)

- hungry for the things of God

- merciful

- pure in heart
(pick two or three of the above)
3. To be any of these, you must be in Christ

The chief characteristic of those whom Jesus describes as The Blessed Ones is that of humility. The opposite of humility is pride, which the Bible judges to be the root of all sin. It would seem that if we rooted out our pride, we would obtain humility but those who have endeavored to do so have failed, as the following story shows.

C. FitzSimmons Allison relates in his book Fear, Love, And Worship, this story, which I have paraphrased. There was a seminary professor who understood well the problem of pride, that human pride was the source of all that was sinful and that the Pharisees were the most glaring example of this malady. In his preaching and teaching he never tired of exposing the new Pharisees. The professor deemed it his sacred duty to root out this noxious weed wherever he found it.
One day a friend visited the professor and this zealous man of God related a heated discussion which he had with some colleagues concerning the nature of the gospel. As he related the points he had made, his friend agreed with his position all the way along. Then the friend added this observation: ''You know, there is one question which reveals whether or not one is a Pharisee.'' ''What's that?'' the professor inquired. ''Who killed Christ?'' The professor shook his head vigorously in agreement. ''That's right! Those damned Pharisees killed him!'' The friend said no more for the professor had been accursed by his own tongue.

The Beatitudes present us with the paradoxical notion of strength through weakness. Let us briefly consider the different types of weakness. An article I read in Christianity Today called ''Unraveling the Mystery of Weakness and Strength'' by Peter Kreeft loosely guided my thinking on this subject.
First, there is the weakness of position: the weakness of playing second fiddle of or not making the first team. In our society, as well as many others, to be obedient is a sign of weakness; to take orders marks you as being inferior to the one issuing the orders. In the world, the strong impose themselves on the weak but Jesus says that this is not the way it is supposed to be with his followers. Christ's disciples must be willing to be servants and give up the striving for positional advantage. Even in the church there are those who possess greater power than others (an Assistant Pastor is in a weaker position than the Senior Pastor) but power and position have nothing to do with worth or value. If we accept our positional weakness, Christ promises blessedness.
A second source of weakness inheres in our finitude and creatureliness. My father, Roy Anderson, was a robust man of strength and endurance most of his life. He was diagnosed with cancer six years ago and toward the end of his life the disease completely sapped his vitality. During the last nine days of his life we had to care for him as we would a baby. I thought he would rail against his weakness but he did not. This grace that God gave him to accept his weakness was a source of strength. It enabled him to accept the ministration of God.
A third source of weakness is moral and spiritual in nature. It is the infirmity of sin and evil. The first two kinds of weakness we would do well to accept so that God can transform them into strength but the debility of sin must not be accepted; it must be overcome through the power of the gospel. Christ took that weakness to the cross and nailed it there. Christ, through his transforming weakness, is the source of our strength. Likewise, Christ can convert our spiritual weakness into strength. The new birth has been compared to a heart transplant. God uses the weakness of our old hearts to get us on the operating table so that he might implant in us new hearts, hearts that no longer lust after things forbidden but long for the living God.